An announcement by the Minister of Finance dated December 20, 2024, concerning the determination of the base interest rate and margin for transfer pricing purposes in personal and corporate income tax, has been published in the Polish Monitor. The announcement took effect on January 1, 2025.
The document specifies the types of base interest rates and margin levels used to determine the interest rate applicable to loans, credits, or bond issuances that qualify for the transfer pricing safe harbour simplification.
According to the announcement, the base interest rates for loans are as follows:
Polish zloty (PLN) – WIBOR 3M or WIRON 3M compounded rate
US dollar (USD) – 90-day Average SOFR
Euro (EUR) – EURIBOR 3M
Swiss franc (CHF) – SARON 3 months Compounded Rate
British pound (GBP) – SONIA 3M Compounded Rate
The applicable margin rates are:
For the borrower: a maximum of 2.6 percentage points
For the lender: a minimum of 2.0 percentage points
It is also important to note that if the base interest rate is negative, the margin is determined by summing the absolute value of the base rate and the margin itself. In practice, this means that if the base rate used to determine the interest on a loan, credit, or bond is negative, the applicable interest rate must equal the margin, as the margin cannot be reduced by a negative base rate.
The announcement is issued pursuant to Article 11g(4) of the Corporate Income Tax Act (CIT Act) and, similarly, Article 23s of the Personal Income Tax Act (PIT Act). These provisions set out the conditions required to qualify for the safe harbour mechanism, which include:
The annual interest rate on the loan, as of the contract date (or modification date, if the modification concerns interest rates), is determined based on the base rate and margin specified in the announcement.
No fees other than interest are charged for granting or servicing the loan (e.g., commissions or premiums).
The loan term does not exceed five years.
The total amount of liabilities or receivables from related parties due to loan principal (separately for granted and received loans) does not exceed PLN 20,000,000 or its equivalent.
The lender is not a resident of a jurisdiction applying harmful tax practices.
These conditions apply equally to loans, credits, and bond issuances.
Meeting all the above conditions allows taxpayers to use the safe harbour mechanism. This simplification means that the tax authority will refrain from determining the taxpayer’s income (or loss) related to the interest rate of loans, credits, or bond issuances that fall under the safe harbour. Additionally, under Article 11n of the CIT Act and Article 23z of the PIT Act, transactions covered by the safe harbour mechanism are exempt from the requirement to prepare local transfer pricing documentation, including comparative analyses, and may be reported in a simplified manner in the TPR (Transfer Pricing Report).
The safe harbour mechanism is a unilateral simplification in a given country for applying transfer pricing regulations. Utilizing this simplification qualifies as a specific hallmark. Consequently, applying the safe harbour rules may trigger Mandatory Disclosure Rules (MDR) reporting obligations, even if the transaction value does not exceed the transfer pricing documentation threshold of PLN 10 million.
Back to publications 
Facebook
X
Linkedin
